For Her
by unknownworldof
Summary: The mission launch is today. But he stays strong. Not just for him, but for her.


His first thought waking up was _Do I smell bagels?_

He struggles with the pull of his lulling dream and gently cracks open his eye. The alarm clock glared a startling 8:04.

_On a Saturday? _

He glances to his right to see the unmade side of the bed. Feeling the sheets, he finds them cold.

_Well at least I'm not the only one up. Might as well see what's up._

Throwing the white comforter off his legs, he stumbles to the door, cursing loudly as his early morning paralysis knocks his knee into the dresser. His mood suddenly lifts when he catches sight of the blonde woman padding across the wood floor, bagel in hand, straight towards him.

"Finally," she scoffs, "I thought you were going to sleep all day."

"Aw come on Artemis. It's too early. Even for food. Just come back to bed," he exclaimed.

"Can't. You know I have to leave today," Artemis says.

He knows his face doesn't help cover his confusion when her steel eyes narrow their eyes in agitation.

"Really Wall-man? You forgot. Of all the days."

He stays silent, still scrambling to remember. It can't be Valentine's Day or her birthday…

With an eye roll and a huff she stuffs the bagel in his mouth.

"Okay, while you continue to be an idiot, I'm going to shower," she all but breathes. With a peck to his still sputtering face, she saunters down the hall, her golden hair swishing back and forth.

It takes two more bagels and a lot scratching to his red locks before he finally looks at the calendar. He checks today's date to see it circled in blue. (red was always too cliché for their home) There it was, DAY OF SUCK. It was his handwriting, so why couldn't her remem-

Oh. _Oh._

_Not today. It can't be so soon. Im not ready._

His usual mood is replaced with hurt as he realizes what this day is going to become.

He walks to the room to replace his batman boxers with jeans and a yellow sweater. Artemis always loves him in this sweater. He strains to hear behind the closed bathroom door of her singing bad show tunes. He's going to miss that every day.

_No. Don't start thinking like she's already gone. She's here and you're going to try and be on your best behavior._

With a determined mind set, he stalks to the living room, but not before he grabs more bagels. He plops himself on the dark beige couch and absentmindedly pets Brucley while reaching for the remote. He idly hears the shower turning off and the blow dryer running, but his façade is breaking and he needs a distraction, quick.

His thumb hits the power and the television hums to life. The room is suddenly blaring with a deep nasally voice that he despises. Gordon Godfrey seems to be covering the mission launch.

_Oh Joy. Just what I DIDN'T to think about. _

It's not like this is sudden news. He's known about it for months. Begged Artemis to not go for days afterwards. But she already made up her mind. And it's all he could do and try and be supportive. So why is it that this plan is killing him on the inside?

"Stupid Spitfire," he mumbled.

He doesn't like this plan. Hates it. But if she was in, then they better be sure he would be helping her get in order. He went so far as to make the pill that was to stop her- um yea. He needed to make sure all the bases were covered and that this treachery was secure. He wouldn't let her go if he wasn't sure. That and that he knew Nightwing would be there.

Although he wasn't sure about Dick these days, he figured if anyone else besides himself had to be there for her, it would be him.

"I'm ready," Artemis' voice echoed through their duplex.

He shut his eyes and repeated the mantra.

_Be strong. Be strong. Be strong…_

_For her._

His books lying out in front of him, wrappers already on the ground. None of it matter though. It's around 11:30 and his emerald stare burns into the screen watching the rocket launch. He hears reporters covering the event but none of those matters. Nobody else matters because he knows that by midnight, all his life of normalcy is over. His perfectly crafted life is shattered. He turns back into the pumpkin. Artemis disappears into another and until they find the "glass slipper" that brings down the Light and their undercover partner, she's hidden from him.

He just wants to see some sort of reassurance that the plan is going well. So he strains his eyes to catch a flash of the golden mane attached to the green mask. Attached to her. He thinks he may see it once, but doubtful when he sees reflections shining from lights.

Then, in an unexpected twist, the launch is moved up. 2 minutes left. Kaldur and his goons must be there. Fighting her. This is the first time in a while he hasn't been there, shadowing her so that he takes the brunt of the injuries. One little thing can go wrong, one factor not accounted for and yea, he's about to get sick.

He turns his attention outward when he hears liftoff. He never tires of watching things go to new places, discover new things. It's one of the reasons why he loves running. To reach the mystery.

His awe soon turns to horror as he watches the once impeccable space craft turn to fire and ash.

_What happened!_

This wasn't accounted for. It wasn't supposed to be destroyed. He doesn't know what's happening and soon turns furious because he should have been there.

He shakily grabs the phone and starts dialing Dick's cell.

_It has to be over right? He should call anytime now. _

He tries multiple times but all he gets is a busy tone. He knows it should be fine, and to wait for a signal, but dammit! He's a speedster, he can't do patient.

His worry turns him to pace and count until something happens.

_1…2…3…4…_

He gets to number 3,216 when he hears a slight jiggling of his door. He stills, waiting for tell-tale sign of familiarity.

He isn't disappointed when he hears slight swearing before a deep voice calls out to him.

"Wally, open up. If I drop her she's going to kick my ass," he hoarsely whispers.

At the mention of she, he speeds over to the door, and opens it, almost tearing the door off the hinges in anticipation.

His silently musings of the next superboy are forever silenced when he sees her. He sharply inhales, eyes widening.

There she is. His love; dead to the world and all who coexist on it.

He knows it isn't real but he can't stop his hands from shaking as he reaches out to grab her, to touch her.

Nightwing must see this because he helps pass her along until she's cradled in his waiting arms.

Once she's there, he feels dead-weight. Her beautifully tan skin, whitened by the effects of the pill. The pill that he made. Okay, yep, he's seriously going to be sick.

He walks to the couch, sitting in a way so that she is comfortable, even in her state. He lifts his trembling fingers to brush the flaxen strands that dare escape from her picturesque up do.

Taking a deep breath, he glances to see Dick brooding in the chair that he and Artemis picked out. She loved tha-

_No. She's alive. Just preoccupied at the moment. No past tenses._

Seeing as Dick doesn't look like he going to start talking, he decides to start the conversation.

"Did it go the way you wanted to," he asks, genuinely curious to the answer.

The long sigh Dick lets escape is an answer enough.

"She should be waking up in around 15 minutes. I'm going to get cleaned up. See you in a couple hours," Nightwing announces barreling to the door.

"Dick. Wait," he hears himself say.

Dick stops in his tracks, and cranes his head to see him. He looks tired, Wally muses.

"I just want to say… Thank you, for… looking out for her. Artemis, I mean," he stumbles.

This cracks his brooding appearance into a small wry smile. "Don't worry about it Wall-man. Of course."

With that, he's gone just like the night.

Wally sighs, scrubbing his hands into his face. He looks down at her still form and decides to place her on the bed in their room.

_It's the least he can do. Besides, she's probably going to kick my ass if I leave her on the couch._

He's staring down at her unmoving form like a vulture with prey at the foot of their bed. He's waiting for her chest to start moving again, for her cheeks to color, anything really. Just to show that she's okay.

He glances at the clock and it reads 2:17. It's then that he hears her coughing.

That gets him on his feet in seconds, hovering over her as he watches her gulp breath after breath. It's never been a more beautiful sight to him.

She blearily opens her eyes, mirroring him this morning. He watches her pupils expand before seeing her chapped full lips give him a twisted smile.

The first thing he hears out of her mouth is "So… I think Connor and M'Gaan are still a thing."

Sass. Of course it's sass. She's Artemis. He shouldn't be surprised.

So he chokes back the tears threatening to come out and replies, "Sucks for the chum guy."

As they both start giggling, he comes to think that he doesn't want to worry about anybody else ever again.

He would relive this day if it meant seeing her, for just mere moments.

And when he sees the submarine sink to the bottom of the ocean, her inside, he flashes to her smiling face. How that smile, and her smirks, and just everything about her captivates him.

He tells Dick the truth.

It _does_ get harder from here on out.

But he can deal with it. He has to deal with it. Just so he can see her for the moments that they had. That they will have.

So he straightens, takes his steps forward and tries to let his worry and frustration subside.

Not just for him, but for her.

It's always for her.


End file.
